Council officials told councillors this week that advice from the Data Protection Office that the publication of those convicted, other than in court reports, would be in breach of data protection. The council was recommended to drop the policy and "any information on local authority websites should be removed."

Thisnews was described as "very disappointing" according to Cllr John Joe Fennelly, a member of the special policy committee who formulated the policy.

"Someone needs to find out if there is a way we can go about it," he said.

Only recently Cork County Council had adopted such a policy, Cllr John Bonham said, which had created national headlines.

"I think it’s a disgrace," Cllr John Moran said. "A system needs to be put in place to hang these people out to dry," he said of the offenders.

A fine of n150 was not enough to deter people, Cllr Moran said, adding that this should be increased to n500. Cllr Fennelly said they had written to the Minister for the Environment, asking for him to increase the fine.